Released: 7/21/2010
Author(s): Matthew Ladner
Florida lawmakers began a comprehensive education reform effort in 1999 combining accountability, transparency, and parental choice with other far-reaching changes. In March 2010, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released new results showing just how successful Florida’s reforms have been and how futile Oklahoma’s efforts have proved.
This study documents how the latest NAEP results strengthen the case for Florida-style reforms. In 2009, some groups of traditionally underperforming students from Florida—including that state’s Hispanic students—widened their leads over the statewide average score for all Oklahoma students.
This report explains in some detail why Florida’s reforms, while benefiting all students, have been especially beneficial to disadvantaged students. For example, Florida’s method for grading schools looks not only at students’ overall performance and overall gains, but also considers gains among the 25 percent of students with the lowest scores. Importantly, those 25 percent of students are counted in all three categories, providing a strong incentive for schools to help their lowest-performing pupils.
This paper details the key components of Florida’s K-12 education reform strategy and explains why the adoption of the Florida reforms in Oklahoma would aid all children, especially disadvantaged students.
Key findings include:
- Florida’s reading achievement surged over the last decade, while Oklahoma demonstrated stagnation in achievement during the same period.
- Florida students went from being more than a grade level behind Oklahoma’s average in 1998 to almost a grade level ahead in 2009.
- Florida’s Hispanic students scored about two grade levels below Oklahoma’s average for all students in 1998 but about a half-grade level ahead in 2009.
- Oklahoma Hispanic students’ average score has improved by 3 points since 1998, while Florida’s Hispanic students have improved by 25 points—roughly equivalent to two-and-a-half grade levels’ worth of progress.
- In 2009, Florida Hispanic students outscored or tied the statewide average for all students in Oklahoma and 30 other states.
- In 1998, Florida students eligible for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch scored 29 points below the average for all students in Oklahoma. As of 2009, these subgroups are tied.
- After a decade of strong progress, Florida’s children with disabilities now score substantially higher than those in Oklahoma.
- Florida’s schools improved their Florida Department of Education Grade Rankings despite the fact that the state strengthened grading criteria three separate times.
- Florida’s school grading method balances overall scores and student learning gains while emphasizing progress among low-achieving students.
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